As we head into the Season 7 (Part 1) premiere this Sunday,
here's the behind-the-scenes story of how one pricey "Mad Men"
episode came to be.

"The Band of the 20th Century"

From the real-life ad campaigns to the fashions, most everything
on "Mad Men" is authentically 1960s. But for Weiner, there was
always one glaring inauthenticity on the show.

“It was always my feeling that the show lacked a certain
authenticity because we never could have an actual master
recording of the Beatles performing," Weiner told The New York Times. "It always felt to me
like a flaw. Because they are the band, probably, of the
20th century.”

That isn't to say that the series has never sampled from the
band's catalogue. In season 4 episode "Hands and Knees," Beatles
song "Do You Want to Know a Secret" played over the credits.
However, it was an instrumental cover which only requires the
more affordable publishing rights.

Acquiring the rights to any music can be costly enough, but
gaining the rights to a Beatles recording is extremely expensive
and difficult — a fact that Weiner and "Mad Men" would soon come
to realize.

Don Draper's $250,000 Beatles Record

For television, the Beatles had always been the "holy grail" when it came to licensing.

Released on "Revolver" in
1966, "Tomorrow Never Knows" fit perfectly into the "Mad Men"
timeline.Capitol
Records

This meant that "Mad Men" had an up-hill battle, but it helped
that the remaining members of the band are fans of the show.

"In the case of the Beatles, they're not known for opening up
their song catalogue to everyone," show writer Andre Jacquemetton
told the Canadian Press. "It just turns out
actually that they're huge fans of the show.

According to The Wall Street Journal, it's common to hear
Beatles covers, but not the actual Beatles songs. When it does
happen, it typically "involves fees of over $1 million." Such was
the case with 2010's "Dinner For Schmucks," which used "Fool on the Hill" for a reported $1.5 million.

In contrast, most other popular songs that are licensed for TV
shows can be purchased for under $100,000.

Ultimately, Lionsgate — the studio behind "Man Men" — paid
$250,000, and used the song for less than 2 minutes in season 5's
"Lady Lazarus," as Don Draper tried to stay in tune with '60s
youth culture, but was ultimately left unimpressed.

Watch the $250,000 scene below:

The Beatles and "The End" of "Mad Men"

Heading into the final season, we may not have heard
the last of the Fab Four.Frank
Ockenfels 3/AMC

"Mad Men's" use of "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the first time a TV
show had used a Beatles master track, and with that distinction
came a price that was about five times the average rate.

Yet, even though the costs were high, this may not be the last
time "Mad Men" uses the Fab Four's catalogue.

As we head into the series' final season, the music of Paul,
John, George, and Ringo may play into Weiner's end-game for the
entire series, as he told Grantland:

"I want to leave the show in a place where you have an idea of
what it meant and how it’s related to you. It’s a very tall
order, but I always talk about 'Abbey Road. What’s the song at
the end of 'Abbey Road'? It’s called ‘The End.’ There is a
culmination of an experience of people working at their highest
level."